Chettinad Cement plans pan-Indian presence

Published:
18 February 2010

Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd, which expects to grow its annual cement production capacity to 10Mt in Tamil Nadu by next year, has decided to double this capacity through its expansion in Karnataka.

By the end of this decade Chettinad Cement aims to have a pan-India presence with units in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Chattisgarh.

Addressing reporters at its Puliyur factory, about 35km from here, Mr C. Sudhakar, President, Chettinad Cement, said the company has over 8.2Mt production capacity distributed across three units in Tamil Nadu and is adding a 2.2Mt at Karikkali in Dindigul district. This capacity would be in place by March 2011, and its total in the State would increase to 10 mt.

He told the reporters who were on a tour of its production facilities organised by the company that the next stage of expansion would be in Gulbarga, Karnataka. Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd has firmed up plans to invest over Rs 2,500 crore in the next five years to add 7.5 mt cement production capacity.

But the company is seriously considering going up to 10Mt which would give it as large a production base as it has in Tamil Nadu.

The Karnataka facility will also be self-sufficient in power with 45 MW of captive production.

The company expects to place orders for the equipment by April to start production at the first line of 2.5Mt in 2012. This would be scaled up in stages to complete the expansion project by 2015. The Karnataka Government and the Central Ministry of Environment and Forests have cleared the project and work on the project has picked up pace, Mr Sudhakar said. Over 250Mt of limestone potential is available in the mine area allocated to the company to keep it going for over 25 years.